And there are times when we’re opposing the plans of God, to be sure. There are times when we are opposed by the Devil, certainly. We shouldn’t assume that inner conflict is often “a confirmation of your calling the enemy only fights those who pose a threat” (Kindle location 2818), or that if you “haven’t had a head-on collision with the Devil lately, it may be because you’re running in the same direction” (Kindle location 2820). Moreover, while I certainly don’t want to ignore the schemes of the Devil, we should recognize that not every negative situation or accusation arises from demonic machinations. It’s as though he’s preemptively saying to his critics, “God called me to do this you can’t argue with these results.” He boasts of “more than one hundred teenagers public declarations of faith in Christ” at a teenager’s funeral where he preached (Kindle location 1350) and of how, after giving a moving eulogy for his father, who died of ALS, $61,000 was pledged in his honor (Kindle location 2730). It’s only natural, then, that his book would have an element of defensiveness, even as he tells us we need not fear such things.įurtick emphasizes his personal call from God, “whispered” directly to him, that together he and God are going to take Charlotte for God’s glory (Kindle location 195). “Don’t put salt in your eye,” “Don’t walk in front of a bus,” and “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3) are negative thoughts, after all, but they’re also good for us. But Crash the Chatterbox lacks a nuanced view of negative thoughts-that while some are destructive, others are actually good for us. We can all agree, I think, about a kind of negativity that’s detrimental to our health and well-being. Crash the Chatterbox is built on a shaky foundation, namely the claim that of the allegedly 80,000 thoughts we have each day, roughly 80 percent are negative. I’ll limit myself to four significant errors I see in this book.ġ. And the details, I’m afraid, spoil Crash the Chatterbox. What God says I can do-or, more correctly, what he’s empowered me to do through the Holy Spirit-is more important than what others think I can do.īut the devil, as they say, is in the details. What God says he will do and what God has already done is more than enough to overcome my fears. What matters isn’t what I, or others, think about me but what God says about me. Taken on their own, these confessions (or, more accurately, declarations) are actually pretty helpful. “So by filling our spiritual ears with these four declarations of truth, we receive and respond to what God says about who he is and who we are in him” (Kindle location 371). “These are truths about God and truths about you that come straight from God’s Word,” Furtick writes. Overpowering the lies of the enemy in your discouragement. Overpowering the lies of the enemy in your condemnation. Overpowering the lies of the enemy in your fears. ![]() Overpowering the lies of the enemy in your insecurities. ![]() Furtick builds his argument, or rather his counterargument to the lies we believe, around four “confessions”: We read through those filters, an appropriate observation considering the central purpose of Crash the Chatterbox-to help readers hear God’s voice above all the competing negative voices around and, most of all, inside of us.įirst, let’s talk about the good of this book. We approach books with our opinions of the author in place, and tend to look to confirm our biases. Which, I suppose, is part of the problem. ![]() How do I write a review that isn’t kinder than the book warrants, but also can’t be easily brushed off by the author’s fan base with a “haters gonna hate”? Do you know what’s incredibly challenging? Trying to write anything that resembles a balanced review of Crash the Chatterbox: Hearing God’s Voice Above All Others, the latest book by Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte.
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