Travis Peterson says:

In Forgotten God, Francis Chan challenges believers to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit of God. Chan, a former pastor and widely-acclaimed Christian speaker, brings his trademark plain speech and passion to this, his second major book—his first being Crazy Love.

Positive

Chan argues that many believers have a basic doctrine of the Holy Spirit as part of the trinity, but the same Christians have no real experience with the Spirit of God. The author challenges Christians to stop settling for head knowledge of God’s Spirit and to pray fervently for God to allow them to experience his presence and love through his indwelling Spirit.

Chan is very open, honest, and personal in this book. There is no doubt that Francis Chan has been truly convicted about his lack of Spirit-focus in his own life. He believes that he has neglected one of the persons of the Godhead, and he recognizes this as sinful. Thus, Chan’s observations are refreshingly real—they do not make one feel as though they are being talked down to by an aloof scholar.

Negative

Perhaps it is the nature of such a writing, but Chan is unable to offer much by way of action steps for Christians who are finding themselves guilty of neglecting the Spirit of God. Chan suggests a change of mind and more prayer, but these steps are probably already things that guilty Christians know they need.

Chan’s work also walks into a more mystical level of Holy-Spirit-encounter than many non-charismatic believers may find comfortable. Unfortunately, Chan mostly has only his own experience to cite as his authority for how one’s encounters with God’s Spirit ought to look or feel. Don’t get me wrong, Chan is not neglecting Scripture in this book, but there is an element of mystical encounter in the writing that is simply personal for him. Thus Chan’s experience may be a little more—though not drastically over-the-top—than some would embrace.

Conclusion and Recommendation

I was blessed by reading Chan’s work. His sincerity was touching. His push to not settle for a bookish experience with the Holy Spirit was challenging. His call to radical living was refreshing. While I do not agree with every conclusion Chan draws, I believe most Christians would benefit from some time with this text.

** Note: For this review, I listened to the audio version of this book. I received my files from www.ChristianAudio.com **
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Elizabeth Eldridge says:

INCREDIBLE. Seriously couldn't stop listening.... In fact, I am going to re-listen. This book is SO good! One of the best books I've read recently! I HIGHLY recommend!! As one reviewer already mentioned, there is nothing hugely ground breaking or profound about the book.... it's just Biblical and God-inspired and you can feel that when you listen to it. Don't get me wrong... this book is filled with AMAZING truths and promises. You WILL be inspired!
Also, small side note: Francis Chan does a much better job at reading this one. He speaks with more conviction than he did with "Crazy Love". #

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Casey Taylor says:

Francis Chan reminds of John Wesley, the 18th century pioneer of Methodism. John Wesley wrote a sermon called “The Almost Christian,” yet another of his attempts to convert cozy church people into risk-taking, born again Christians who are steadily growing in holiness. Like Wesley, Chan believes that the same dynamic experience of Christian faith of the New Testament is available to the present day followers of Jesus Christ.

Like his first book, “Crazy Love,” Chan’s second book, “The Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit,” challenges readers to take some risks. Whereas “Crazy Love” might be considered a primer on the doctrine of God (with a distinctly Reformed undertone), “Forgotten God” obviously focuses on that mysterious third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Chan writes in the Introduction:

“From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected and, for all practical purposes, forgotten…There is a gap between what we read in Scripture about the Holy Spirit and how most believers and churches operate today. In many modern churches, you would be stunned by the apparent absence of the Spirit in any manifest way. And this, I believe, is the crux of the problem.”

Chan wants us to experience the Holy Spirit in power, not merely get some good theology about the Holy Spirit.

I couldn’t find a well-reasoned order to the chapters of this short book. Each chapter seems more like devotional reflections rather than a progressive building from chapter to chapter. Brief biographies of people who strike Chan as “Spirit-filled” end each chapter.

Nothing in “The Forgotten God” struck me as new. I did mark out a few passages that struck me as insightful reminders. Overall, I would characterize Chan’s theological pedigree as Reformed and evangelical. He doesn’t delve deep enough into issues like speaking in tongues to label him as Charismatic. Much of his work seems friendly to a Wesleyan tradition, too. I should note that I don’t attempt to label Chan theologically to “peg him” so as to dismiss him; it’s simply an exercise of awareness.

Because Chan is so frustrated by American Christianity – its ease, wealth, and comfort – his tone can be a bit of a downer. Of course we should be careful of dismissing hard to hear messages simply because they make us feel bad, but this tone stood out to me in both of Chan’s books. His favorite adverbs (“really,” “genuinely,” “honestly”) indicate a distrust with the glittery ease of American Christianity. It’s not an always positive message Chan offers, but it’s good to hear a popular evangelical leader who pastors a megachurch wrestling with the implications of his church’s wealth and power.

I should also note that I’m likely not the intended audience. Chan’s writing for popular Christian readers, not Mainline pastors like me who spent a good chunk of seminar reading the Church Fathers (including St. Basil the Great’s “The Holy Spirit”). This wouldn’t be my first recommendation to one of my parishioners if they were seeking to not only learn more about the Holy Spirit but also to experience the Holy Spirit more.

In that case, I’d recommend one of Jack Hayford’s books (an Amazon search for “Hayford” and “spirit” will pull up a number of good hits). For delving into theology of the Holy Spirit, I’d recommend the above work by St. Basil the Great. John Paul II’s encyclical on the Holy Spirit (available on the Vatican’s website) is also good, as is the Roman Catholic Catechism. I’d also recommend perusing some of John Wesley’s sermons (freely available online), as well as John Calvin’s section on the Holy Spirit in The Institutes of the Christian Religion. But if you get this far, you likely won’t find much need for “The Forgotten God.”
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