Here's the first page (basically) of a book I'm reading, The Forgotten God, written by Francis Chan:
"You might think that calling the Holy Spirit the 'forgotten God' is a bit extreme. Maybe you agree that the church has focused too much attention elsewhere but feel it is an exaggeration to say that we have forgotten about the Spirit. I don't think so. From my perspective, 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 churchgoers across America who cannot confidently say they have experienced His presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can. The benchmark of success in church services has become more about attendance than the movement of the Holy Spirit. The 'entertainment' model of church was largely adopted in the 1980s and '90s, and while it alleviated some of our boredom for a couple of hours a week, it filled our churches with self-focused consumers rather than self-sacrificing servants attuned to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we're too familiar and comfortable with the current state of the church to feel the weight of the problem."
Stay tuned for more thoughts when I finish!
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