Subtitle - Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit
"Many of us don't need more knowledge about the Spirit from a cerebral vantage point; what we need is experiential knowledge of His presence."
- Francis Chan
In the book "Forgotten God" Francis Chan exhorts all us Christians to "reverse" our unbiblical neglect and in some cases our outright ignorance of the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the permanent and powerful place He is to take up in our day-to-day lives as children of God. Francis worded it the following way, "The Holy Spirit is tragically neglected, and for all practical purposes, forgotten. While no evangelical would deny His existence, I'm willing to bet there are millions of church-goers across America who cannot confidently say that they have experienced His presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not think they can." In this book, Francis deals with 7 different attitudes that we currently have towards the Holy Spirit and Chan then attempts to alter those unscriptural views to ones that are both honoring to the Holy Spirit and that would allow Him to have a much greater and deeper impact in our relationship with God. Such chapter's include, "I've Got Jesus, Why Do I Need The Spirit?", "Theology of the Holy Spirit", "Why Do You Want Him?", and the "Supernatural Church."
For myself, one of the most eye-opening statements Francis makes in this book is the fact that Jesus suffered and died on the Cross not only to achieve forgiveness for us, not only to unite us with the Father, but just as equally to give us the Holy Spirit. I personally have never really dwelt on that truth before, that the Holy Spirit's presence in us was only accomplished specifically by Christ's crucifixion. Commenting on this truth in Galatians 3:13-14, Francis stated, "Christ redeemed us from the curse we were under so that we could receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. The promised Spirit is not a small promise. Jesus suffered a grueling death so that I could have the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit; how dare I take this for granted. Because of Jesus I have received the promise, and this Spirit is not a remote force, He takes up residence in our lives, in our very body."
For those who have never read a book entirely devoted to the Holy Spirit, Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" could perhaps be the best book in which to begin your journey living as an actual temple of the Holy Spirit, which you've always been as a Christian, but may never have fully realized it or lived out that life-changing fact before.
"I am tired of living in a way that looks exactly like people who do not have the Holy Spirit of God living in them. I want to consistently live with an awareness of His strength. I want to be different today from what I was yesterday as the fruit of the Spirit becomes more manifest in me. I want to live so that I am truly submitted to the Spirit's leading on a daily basis. Christ said it is better for us that the Spirit came, and I want to live like I know that is true. I don't want to keep crawling when I have the ability to fly."
- Francis Chan, Forgotten God, Chapter 1
