Book Review - Forgotten God

I wanted to read this book as soon as I read the review this past fall, but I was afraid to read it. Why would I be afraid of reading this book? Because it is about the Holy Spirit.

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I'm guessing that statement probably needs some explaining, right?

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As I mentioned earlier this week, the church I grew up in was one of a kind in our area at the time. Services were sometimes frenzied, which was often frightening to me as a child. The name of the Holy Spirit was mentioned frequently, but never adequately explained. There were a few occasions where the name of the Holy Spirit was used to intimidate.

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Suffice it to say, I developed a bit of an issue where the subject of the Holy Spirit was concerned. Convinced that I did not know enough and that what I did know was most likely incomplete at best, I decided that this was an area best left to theologians. Nice cop out, isn't it?

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After many months of feeling increasingly convicted that I was shirking my responsibility as a Christian to learn as much as possible about my faith, I found a review of the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I finally picked up a copy and hesitantly began to read. Pastor Chan's friendly conversational tone immediately put my mind at ease. This is not a hefty theological tome circling the stratosphere above my head, he successfully brings the subject matter to a level the reader can relate to - yet he makes no effort to simplify it. The book portrays a picture of the average church in the United States and contrasts it sharply with the flourishing newborn church we see in the book of Acts.

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Pastor Chan also discusses the difference between operating under your own power and letting the Holy Spirit work through you. Christians sometimes forget that God often chooses to work through our weaknesses (think Gideon!) and need to depend on Him instead of always trying to do everything ourselves.

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I have in no way done this book justice, but I highly recommend reading it! This book did make me feel much less anxious about my apprehension on the subject of the Holy Spirit, and I finished the book in deep gratitude for comforting presence of the Spirit in my life.